Wii U price may be revealed Sep 13

Nintendo is holding a special media event on September 13.

Invitations have been sent out to media outlets located in New York City for a “Wii U Preview” from 10 AM to 4 PM, so it seems like there will be quite a showcase on display.

Companies send out press and analyst invites to events all the time in New York, many of which are just to capture attention from the highly dense concentration of industry professionals.

But at this event, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime will be on hand, leading many to believe that there will be an announcement, finally, about when the Wii U will be released and how much it will cost.

This would fall in line with previous reports that such announcements would be made in September.

Estimates of what the Wii U will cost have ranged anywhere from $300 to $500. Regardless of where it is in that wide range, if it is more than $250 it will be the most expensive Nintendo console ever.

The problem is the touchscreen tablet-like controller, which is practically another video game system in and of itself. So you’re paying for not one console but two, which is driving up costs for Nintendo.

And Nintendo likes to be able to turn a profit for its hardware, unlike industry convention which is to sell the console at below cost, hoping you’ll make that money back through high-margin software sales.